Security Intermediate

What is Rate Limiting?

A technique that controls the number of requests a client can make to a server within a specified time period.

Rate limiting protects APIs and services from abuse, DDoS attacks, and excessive usage. Common approaches include fixed window (X requests per minute), sliding window (smoother distribution), and token bucket (burst-friendly) algorithms.

Implementation can be per-user, per-IP, or per-API-key. HTTP response headers (X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, Retry-After) communicate limits to clients. Redis is commonly used to track request counts.

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Related Terms

Penetration Testing

An authorized simulated cyberattack on a system to evaluate its security defenses and identify vulnerabilities.

DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)

Testing a running application from the outside by sending malicious requests to discover security vulnerabilities.

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)

An attack that injects malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users, potentially stealing data or session tokens.

Practices and mechanisms for protecting APIs from unauthorized access, data breaches, and abuse.

Configuration entries that define which network traffic is allowed or blocked based on source, destination, port, and protocol.

Cryptographic Key Management

The practices and procedures for generating, storing, distributing, rotating, and revoking encryption keys securely.

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